Cable making and like machine



Feb. 7, 933. F. J. HUMPHREY CABLE MAKING AND LIKE MACHINE Filed Jan. 2,1930 fix wwi A $0 MK, III-L5 1344/ f M w sgg ww fl jw, M wM PatentedFeb. 7, 1933 UNITED: STATES PATENT OFFICE FREDERICK JOHN HUMPHREY', 'OFTLFOR-I), ENGLAND, ASSIGNVOR TO ARMAFLEX ITARENT, LIMITED, OF LONDON,ENGLAND, A BRITISH COMPANY CABLE maxim:- Ann LIKE MACHINE Applicationfiled January 2, 1930, Serial No. 418,080, and in Great Britain January21, 1929.

, This invention is forimprovements in or relating to cable-making andlike machines of thetype in which a flexible metallic cover.orarmouri-n'gis applied to a core which may be an insulated wire orwires or any other flexible article. I

Inmachines of this type as hitherto known,

the core has been fed through a rotating hol- Z-low mandrel, beingsupplied thereto from a reel or reels which were rotated bodily with themandrel. The strip material which constituted the armouring was passedthrough forming rollers which imparted the desired interlocking shape toit, like the well-known flexible metallic tubing, and was then laid ontheexterior ofthe mandrel from which, whilst encircling the core, it wasdrawn off ;by a, suitably mounted .and bodily rotated drum. Afterleaving the mandrel and before :being wound on to the drum, theassembled a cable was passed through a tapering gauge which compressedthe armouring upon the .core so as to grip it and prevent relativelengthwise movement between the core and the armouring. The red or reelsand the drum aforesaid are rotated bodily at the same speed so thattheoretically no twisting of the core should occur. g

. It is found in practice that difficulties arise in the operation ofthese machines, due, it

:is believed, to variations in the hardness or uniformity of thearmouring strip; it will be appreciated that the rate of feed ofthe'core,

and of the armouring strip, must be exactly proportional to the rate atwhich the completed-articleis withdrawn, but the last-men- V tioned rateis influenced by the passage of the cable'through the tapering gaugewhich compresses the armouring on to the core, and 40 anyirregularities, for example, in the hardness of the armouring strip,which changes the rate at which it can be compressed on the coreinterferes with the production of a satisfactory finished product. Anobject of this invention is to provide certain modifications in theconstructional details of the machines whereby these difficulties areobviated.

According to the firstfeature of this invention,-thereel or reelswhichcarry the core and supply it to therotating hollow mandrel on thecore. The successive convolutions of:

diameter. These pads will engage andexert are not carried by the sameshaft as the mandrel but are connected thereto through a clutch orequivalent device which can be caused to slip. Preferably the clutch iscontrolled by the operator so that he can at will reduce the rate atwhich the core is revolved, .in order to maintain it at the correctspeed of the aforesaid clutch enables these disadvantages to beobviated. I

Inthe machines hitherto used,.the' tapering gauge by which the armouringis compressed upon the core was formed with a smooth interior surface,and according to another'feature of this invention the inner surface ofthe gauge which operates upon the armouring, whilst having the samegeneral tapering shape is provided with a helical groove which is soshaped asto conform with theexternal shaping of the armouring when laidin place the armouring are thereby maintainedin their correct relativespacing one with another whilst being compressed upon the core, so thata more satisfactory product is ensured.

-According to yet another feature of this invention there maybe providedbetween vthe mandrel and the compressing gauge,-a.plurality ofrelatively soft pads which are arranged to press upon the armouringbefore it enters :the gauge. These pads remove any excess oil from theouter surface-of the ar mourin g and exert a slight perliminarycompressing action thereon. If the machine is working normally, thispreliminary compression is almost negligible, but in theevent of 9 aportion ofthe armouring being harder than normal, it doesnot receive:its correctformation whilst on the mandrel and leaves the mandrel withits convolutions of too large a a greater pressure under thesecircumstances, and therefore facilitate the action of the finalcompressing gauge.

In the accompanying drawing, which illustrates the invention applied toa machine of the type set forth for armouring electric cables by aflexible metallic tubular cover- 1ng- Figure 1 is a side elevation ofthe machine,

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the compressing gauge,

Figure 3 is a sectional View of the soft pads for preliminarilycompressing the armouring, and

Figure 4 is a perspective view thereof.

Like reference numerals indicate like parts in the various figures ofthe drawing which are diagrammatic.

The machine comprises a suitable frame indicated generally by thereference numeral 10, wherein there is mounted a hollow shaft 11. Thesaid shaft is driven by means of gear wheels 12, 13 from fast and loosepulleys 14 mounted on a shaft 15. Secured to one end of the shaft 11 isa hollow mandrel indicated generally by the reference numeral 16. Theend of said mandrel remote from the shaft 11 is7 reduced in externaldiameter as shown at 1 At theother end of the shaft 11 and in alignmenttherewith, there is arranged a shaft 18 which is rotatably mounted inbearings carried by standards 19, 20 forming part of the frame 10.Mounted on the shaft 18 to rotate therewith is a frame 21 carrying tworeels 22 on which the two wires 23 forming the core that is to bearmoured are stored. The end of the shaft 18 which is mounted in thestandard 19 is recessed to accommodate the wires 23 which are ledthrough the interior of the shaft 11 and mandrel 16.

A second frame 24 carries a drum 25 which is mounted in a rotatableframe 26 for the purpose of receiving the armoured cable after it hasbeen completed. Any suitable construction of drum which rotates bodilywhilst winding up the cable may be used, such constructions being wellknown in the art. The drum 25 and the mechanism appertaining thereto maybe driven in any convenient manner from a shaft 27. For instance, in thearrangement shown in Figure 1, a shaft 28 in alignment with the shaft 11may be driven from the shaft 27 by chain gear 29. Mounted on the shaft28 is a gear wheel 30 which meshes with a gear wheel 31 on a shaft 32rotatably mounted in bearings 33 on the rotatable frame 26. The shaft 32carries a bevel wheel 34 which gears with a bevel wheel 35 frictionallycoupled to the drum 25 in the usual manner.

On a standard 36 forming part of the frame '24 there is mounted atapering gauge 37 which is aligned with and faces the mandrel 16. Theframe 10 carries upon suitable supports, dies or rollers (not shown onthe drawing as they are well known in the art) for imparting to a flatstrip of the material which forms the armouring of the cable, thedesired profile whereby successive turns of it interlock with oneanother. Also mounted on the frame 10 is a rotatable drum 38 which isdriven from the fast and loose pulleys 14 by means of a gear wheel 39 onthe shaft 15 which meshes with a gear wheel 40 on a shaft 41. A secondgear wheel 42 on the shaft 41 meshes with a gear wheel 43 on a shaft onwhich the drum 38 is mounted. The function of the drum 38 is to draw thearmour strip through the forming dies or rollers aforesaid.

The mechanism hereinbefore described is well known and it is thoughtunnecessary to describe its operation in detail. Sufiice it to say thatthe two wires 23 which constitute the core are led from the reels 22througl'i the 1 hollow shaft 11 and the hollow mandrel The armouringmaterial which is initially in the form of a flat strip is led betweenthe forming dies or rollers aforesaid, around the drum 38 and thence onto the reduced part 17 5 of the mandrel. The armouring is then pressedclosely on to the mandrel by suitable pressing means, one of which 13ind cated at 45.

The core and the armouring surrounding it 5 then pass into the open endof the gauge 37 and are drawn therethrough by the drum 25. It will beunderstood that the frames 21 and 26 are rotated at the same speed sothat theoretically no twisting together of the wires 23 3' should occur,but in practice for the reasons hereinbefore stated twisting is liableto occur. In order to avoid this twisting a sh ping clutch is providedaccording tothe in-,

vention in the drive to the frame 21.

The shaft 18 on which the reels 22 are mounted, is driven from the shaft11 by means of chain gearing 46 between the shafts lland 27 and a chaingear 47 between the shaft 18 and a shaft 48 which is operativelyconnected to the shaft 27 bya slipping clutch 49. The said clutch isarranged to be operated by a foot pedal 50 acting through links 51connecting it to the usual forked clutch lever 52. Thus it will be seenthat by means of the clutch 49 the operator can at will reduce the rateat which the reels 22 are bodily rotated so as to maintain the correctspeed of location of the core relatively to the laying 1 on andcompressing of the armouring.

The gauge 37 has as usual a tapered bore, but instead of being plain asheretofore, said bore is provided with a helical groove 53 as shown onan enlarged scale in Figure 2. This groove conforms with the externalshaping of the armouring when led upon the core and thus ensures theproduction of a more satisfactory article as hereinbefore explained.

Mounted between the mandrel'16 and the gauge 37 and supported by abracket 54 on the'standard 36, is a device comprising two I 56 arrangedto be adjusted nearer together or farther apart by means of a right-andand left-hand screw 57. A stationary guide rod 58 is provided to preventtilting of the pads and plates 56.

It has been found that a machine embodying the modificationshereinbefore described obviates the difliculties hitherto encountered inthe armouring of wires and like flexible cores by a flexible metallictube armouring.

I claim:

1. A cable-making or like machine of the type set forth, comprisingincombination a hollow mandrel, means for rotating said mandreha reel toreceive a supply of material constituting the core, means for rotatingsaid reel bodily about the axis of the mandrel, means for feeding thecore through the mandrel, means for feeding a shaped strip of armouringmaterial on to the mandrel, a take-up device for drawing the armouringmaterial off said mandrel whilst encircling controlled clutch which canbe caused to slip, means for feeding the core through said hollow shaftand said mandrel, means for feeding a shaped strip of armouring materialon to the mandrel, a take-up device for drawin the armouring materialoff said mandred whilst encircling the core, means for bodily rotatingthe take-up device, which framecarrying shaft and take-up device arerotated at the same speed, a plurality of soft pads arranged to pressupon the armouring for the purpose described after it leaves themandrel, and a hollow tapering compressing gauge having on its innersurface which operates upon the armouring a helical groove whichrisshaped to conform with the external shaping of the armouring when laidin place upon the core.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature. FREDERICK JOHN HUMPHREY.

the core, means for bodily rotating the takeup device, which reel andtake-up device are rotated at the same speed, a device for compressingthe armouring upon the core after it leaves the mandrel, and a pluralityof relatively soft pads which are arranged to press upon the armouringbefore it enters said device, for the purpose described.

2. A cable-making or like machine of the type set forth, comprising incombination a hollow mandrel, means for rotating said mandrel, a reel toreceive a supply of material constituting the core, means for rotatingsaid reel bodily about'the axis of the mandrel, means for feeding thecore through the mandrel, means for feeding a shaped strip of armouringmaterial onto the mandrel, a takeup device for drawing the armourinmaterial off said mandrel whilst encircling, the core, means for bodilyrotating the take-up device, which reel and take-up device are rotatedat the same speed, a device for compressing the armouring-upon the coreafter it leaves the mandrel, a plurality of adjustably mounted soft padsarranged to press upon the armouring before it enters said device, andmeans for adjusting said pads towards and away from one another.

3. A cable-making or like machine of the type set forth, comprising incombination a hollow mandrel carried by a hollow shaft,

" rial is mounted, means for driving said shaft from the hollow shaftincluding a manually-'

